John Montgomery Statue

Arts and Culture | Downtown

The statue of John Montgomery, a man whom many credit with the discovery of the site that would later become Clarksville, Tenn., is located in front of Clarksville City Hall, facing Strawberry Alley downtown.

Main Street Clarksville, in conjunction with the Arts and Heritage Development Council, commissioned the statue.

Montgomery came to what is now Clarksville in 1784. He is said to have named the site after his friend, Gen. George Rogers Clark. While not the first person to travel through the area, Montgomery was the first to establish a temporary settlement here during a long hunting trip.

Scott Wise, a Clarksville firefighter and local sculptor, was selected to create the piece. Wise has created numerous pieces of civic art in Clarksville including “The Day After,” also located downtown.

The statue was originally molded out of clay and submitted for approval. Once approval was given, it was cast out of wax and rubber before it was bronzed.